Diagramming Sentences J. Beattie Tri-County Technical College

Step 1 Look for the VERB in the sentence. A verb is a word that shows action (dance, sing, walk, run, etc.) or state of being (am, is, are, was, were, etc.) Ask the question, "What action is taking place, or what happened in the sentence?" The answer you get will let you know which word (or group of words) serves as the verb in the sentence. The VERB is placed on the right hand side of the base line.

Examples Aunt Polly punished Tom for ditching school. Tom started a fight with the new boy in town.

Your Turn Tom’s friends were painting the fence for him. Huck Finn was a homeless boy.

Step 2 Find the SUBJECT of the verb (the person or thing that performs the action). Ask the question, "Who? or What?" before the verb. The answer you get will let you know which word (or group of words) serves as the subject of the verb. The SUBJECT is placed on the left hand side of the base line.

Examples Aunt Polly punished Tom for ditching school. Tom started a fight with the new boy in town.

Your Turn Tom’s friends were painting the fence for him. Huck Finn was a homeless boy.

Step 3 Find the DIRECT OBJECT. (If there is one in the sentence, it is the person or thing that receives the action of the verb.) Ask the question, "Whom? or What?" after the verb. The answer you get will let you know which word serves as the direct object of the verb. The DIRECT OBJECT is placed on the base line to the right of the verb separated by a line that goes upward from the base line.

Examples Aunt Polly punished Tom for ditching school. Tom started a fight with the new boy in town.

Your Turn Tom’s friends were painting the fence for him. Huck Finn was a homeless boy.

Step 4 Look for ARTICLES (a, an, the) or POSSESSIVES (my, your, his, hers, its, their, Joe’s, Maria’s, etc.) Ask the question, "Whose?"   ARTICLES and POSSESSIVES are attached to the base line beneath the word they describe.

Example Tom’s friends were painting the fence for him.

Step 5 Look for ADJECTIVES (words that describe or limit a noun or pronoun). Ask the questions, " Which one? How many? What kind? What size? What color? " ADJECTIVES are connected beneath the words they modify.

Example Becky Thatcher wore two long braids

Your Turn Tom’s little brother discovered the black thread. Huck Finn was a homeless boy.

Step 6 Look for ADVERBS (words that modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs). Ask the questions, "How? When? Where? How much? Why?" ADVERBS are connected beneath the words they modify.

Examples Injun Joe ran away.   Huck bravely saved the Widow Douglas

Step 7 Look for PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES. (These are groups of words that begin with a preposition and end with a noun or pronoun which is the object of the preposition. Together they serve the same function as an adjective or an adverb.) PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES are connected beneath the line of the words they modify.

Example Huck overheard a conversation between two men.

Your Turn Tom was exploring the cave with Becky. The two of them were lost in the cave.

Practice Now let's put what you have learned into practice.  Try these sentences: We read a book about Tom Sawyer in English class. Each student made a report on a chapter from the story.